Just Keep Getting Better
Five years ago three brothers and a cousin descended on the UK amidst an avalanche of dubious moustaches, sex fuelled tabloid tales and debauchery. From typical indie band status playing the customary Academy scene to the dizzy heights of headlining Glastonbury, Kings Of Leon have exploded before our eyes and now with their fourth album offering, ‘Only By The Night’, it looks like the Tennessee kinsman are set to soar even higher.
Walking, as has come to be expected, the thin line between sin and redemption, ‘Only By The Night’ finds Kings Of Leon trying not to fall too far into the devil’s clutch whilst asking for forgiveness and understanding, never quite sure which they desire most. Intensely dark, ‘Only By The Night’ is a haunting rush of sonic atmospherics, delivering epic soundscapes that are littered with irresistible hooks and harmonies to accompany the mind blowing sound the band are flaunting in their would be competitors faces.
As the surprising bleakness of ‘Closer’ opens proceedings full of brooding lyrics draped over a melancholy swirl of sound, intrigue immediately draws you in as the sinister twist of the track vies for your attention. From this the quartet smuggle in a touch of Led Zepplin as ‘Crawl’ slams you against the wall with a tsunami sized wave of crunchy, fuzz fed beats straddled to Caleb Followill’s drawling vocals as everything gets sleeker and sexier, injecting some old school KOL swagger to the album before ‘Sex On Fire’ subtly makes its entrance, pausing briefly before unleashing a brash, boastful strut that charges, yelling for your participation, all the while retaining that quintessential KOL intense cool factor.
But there’s more to KOL than sex and rock and roll; there’s also a tender remorseful side such as shown on the guilt filled ‘Revelry’ and the heart on the sleeve outpouring of ‘Use Somebody’ with Caleb’s emotionally raw vocals revealing his loneliness with spine tingling honesty. And yet even this is later upstaged, paling in significance next to album closer, ‘Cold Desert’. As the steady beat of a drum marches in, pairing up with an intense bass line that wraps itself around mournful guitars, ‘Cold Desert’ tells of a man struggling to understand the life around him, with Caleb’s woeful wails releasing a pain driven deluge into his inner demons, as he comes to the heart breaking conclusion that “Jesus don’t love me … I’m too young to feel this old”, openly confessing his insecurities to all with an uncompromised raw honesty that jolts you instantly as it toys with your emotions.
From the youthful aggression of ‘Youth And Manhood’ to the pounding thump of ‘Because Of The Times’ complete with its edgy euphoria, KOL have evolved before our eyes and with ‘Only By The Night’, the Tennessee family have reached anthem seeking status. This is an album that is begging to fill arenas whilst smugly anticipating the inevitable progression to stadiums, and whilst the crisp, leaner and cleaner look of KOL may not suit all, it is perhaps simply the next logical step for the band and one that only adds to their music. Still brandishing the cool swagger that they strutted onto our radars with and still unleashing a colossal sound that instantly snares all within a ten mile radius, ‘Only By The Night’ proves that KOL are a band that just keeps getting better.